Sir, We Want to See Jesus

April 4, 2023 - Tuesday of Holy Week

John 12:20-36 | 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 | Gospels during Lent Track: Matthew 21-22

If one tries to figure out every detail and meaning concerning Holy Week during Holy Week, it will likely lead to frustration and missing out on the salvation within. There is nothing wrong with working out what God has done in Christ. But perhaps choosing one or two things to focus on would be best for any given year.

Jesus provides the image of a seed that cannot grow without first being thrust into the darkness of soil. What does new life require in nature? It is never spontaneous.

The cross is a conundrum. And yet, it is also simple. To choose to believe that Christ died on the cross on the one hand is not a hard thing to imagine - most all know death and its reality. But the implications of the son of God dying - those are another thing altogether. The thought of such a loving and compassionate person dying such a death is hard to accept, as much as a child dying of cancer or a loved one in an accident. This is a brutal week.

The request of the Greeks to Philip is simple and it’s a good place to begin:

Please, we would see Jesus.

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John 12:20-36

Some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request: “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Human One to be glorified. I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever. Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me.

“Now I am deeply troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, for this is the reason I have come to this time. Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

The crowd standing there heard and said, “It’s thunder.” Others said, “An angel spoke to him.”

Jesus replied, “This voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours. Now is the time for judgment of this world. Now this world’s ruler will be thrown out. When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.” (He said this to show how he was going to die.)

The crowd responded, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Human One must be lifted up? Who is this Human One?”

Jesus replied, “The light is with you for only a little while. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness don’t know where they are going. As long as you have the light, believe in the light so that you might become people whose lives are determined by the light.” After Jesus said these things, he went away and hid from them.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent. Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today’s debaters? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? In God’s wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn’t come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Look at your situation when you were called, brothers and sisters! By ordinary human standards not many were wise, not many were powerful, not many were from the upper class. But God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong. And God chose what the world considers low-class and low-life—what is considered to be nothing—to reduce what is considered to be something to nothing. So no human being can brag in God’s presence. It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus. He became wisdom from God for us. This means that he made us righteous and holy, and he delivered us. This is consistent with what was written: The one who brags should brag in the Lord!

Prayer

God,

Lead me to the cross. Help me to see Christ there. And help me to see myself within his sacrifice, that I might know his sufferings. I do not want to revel in the details of death. I want to know the depths of your love and solidarity with humanity.

Even as I see people today, give me Jesus in such ways that they reflect his person to and I exude his character to them.

By your spirit & in Christ,

Amen.